Stairs



April 3, 1928. G' F. ZAUN STAIRS Filed May s. 1926 fyi Patented pr. 3, 1928.

1,664,724 iP QFFiICiE.

aGEORGE F.1ZAUN, OF ySAN BEBNARDINO,

cALironNIA.

smilies.

'Appiieatioii ined nay A5,

lThis 4 invention relates to improvements in stairs, 4and `particularly to improvements which h avea direct application Ato rolling y' stock. y At the Vpresent timeit is customary 5 infthe caseoPullinan/coaches to provide a `stool which is placed upon the ground so that a passengermayfreadily descend or aseend to the thePullniancoach.

. vfirst Stepf i Coachescf thelPullman type h aveat both f is, opened, whereupon the trap .openedto .permit passengersto ascendwor descend from-the stepsonto a. stool, and

thence to ythe ground, or. vice versa.

'llhe; present invention does away .with the :necessity Step which is swingingly or vpivotally i united to KVV1 1hesteps in 4such a tmanner that when, the trap dooris lifted or opened, the .last named. .te-P will Swingrdownvardly into -a position which rendersascending or .descendingjfromtlie coach an easy matter, and doesawaywith the stool'.V jFurthermore,

the invention .is novel 'in .that this Step Ywhich is used in'conj unction with the other @teils will .feldiniiardlyienf @lese entrance lto" the stepsfso thattramps. Aor others cannot 40 Aride. ,updn the stepsandjbeneath the trap door, and urtlierinore, snow prevented ifi-tom .gathering .uilen thevteps "1d-urine' Anclement rwea-ther.'

rllhe invention vv isioiiofan improved-devicewhichis adapt @dior use an rollms Steck .in Ceni'uneton ,with the stairs thereof, which invention is superior in point of relative simplicity and leepnstllsataken in. .conjunction .with

,.utilitydurability and; general eceriyend .sewie@abltyfllith :the above and otherobjects in view,

the invention consists in the Ynovel anduseficul, provision, formation, construction, asso- ,gciation land relativer arrangement ,of iparts, members and; eatureshall ass hownfin the -s d line 3-#3 ofjllfigurel 2;

V on Isaid coaches. n purview v.of-the nvention myimproveddeof providing a stool, by `providing i Aman Coach type @1f any. .having vestibule ,part 1,the1 rear platform as gvell tas., the front.platforml @have enlowermost step is. some surfacel of the ground or 10, and for lthis reason it isV 'customary' to ,p rovidel a stool for passengers to` stepfupon. haslor an object ltheprof tlie outer side wall of shown in A,Figure `rially f s hortensI platform 2. ,To overcome this shortening of l.the p, lati` ori nV and to fori the passengers,

, vided whichis adapted toclose oventhe said Serial No. I106,943. v

drawing, described generally, and finally pointedout in claims. i In the drawing: 'Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation of ajPullman coach, the stairsot which incorporate the invention; l

Figurej is a sectional view on the line 22 of'FigureS; l

`Figure 3 a cross lsectional view on the Figure 4 is a lfragmentary s ectionalview showing a collapsedv condition of the stairs, and;

- Figure 5 is a A Y detail of the `operating mechanisin used in the invention.

Corresponding parts` in all the igures are designated by the saine reference vcharacters. Y

Referring with particularity tothe drawing, the Pullman coach `isdesignated by A and `the improved stairs by B. The stairs lmay beconsidered either as a separate entity lindependent ,of the Pullman, coach, lor` the invention may be considered certainother aspects asy a'nfattachmenti for` existing stairs Furthermore, within the vice may be V applied as a unitary .member adaptable for coaches. independent of any other stairs. L Y

Atl both .ends Yof a coachsuch as the ,Pullother railroad coach tranceportions ,3. The platform on bo th ,front and rearisprovided ,withaistairway 4; consisting of, treads ,.and risersj, ,both

the treads and the risers being supported betweensdememhers? and 8./ Usually vthe distance fromuthe he top of: a rail .Itisnot ydesired thatrrailroad coach steps should protrude is.- usually approximately alignmentwith the coach'. rllhis is 3, wherein the sideY wall shown at f 11,a nd the nosing ofthe lowermost stepA at" 12. l

the transverse wi This construction maite- 'daarna render the coaches safe a trap door 13 isoprooutwardly from .the car l sidesandg for that reason the; lowermost step tially` Z-shaped having two y case, with a hinge stairs and form a substantially flush surface with the platform 2 when so closed. The platform is hinged as shown at 14 and 15 to an end wall of the coach. `When the trap door forms a continuation of the platform 2, an outside door 16 is adapted to close over the trap door and to effectively prevent entrance to the coach or to prevent anyone from leaving the coach at such a` position, and so long as the deer at 6V is closed the trap door 13 cannot be raised. When it is desired to discharge or permit the entrance of passengers to or from the coach, the door 16 is opened, wliereiuion the trap door may be lifted, upon releasing the catch 28, into an upright position against an end wall of the coach, as illustrated in Figure 2. This trap door is maintained in anupright position by a catch, and assistance in lifting. the trap door is provided through the medium of a device designated as an entirety by a. This device includes a rod 2O pivoted to a bracket 21, which bracket in turn is secured to the bottom surface of the trap door 13. One end of the rod is header as shown at 22 and coiled about the rod is a' spring 23. A collar24 is pivoted to a bracket 25, which bracket is secured to the member 7 of the stairs, as shown at 26, and the said collar acts to conne the end of the spring 23, and the said rod 20 extends through said collar. When the trap door is in the position shown in Fig. l, the rod will extend through the collar 24 andthe spring 23 will be compressed as between the collar 24 and the head 22 of the rod. The side 7 of the stairs is slotted at 27 so as to accommodate this swinging movement of the free end `portion of the rod.

It will be noted that when the trap door is down that a releasable catch indicated in dotted lines at 28 holds the trap door. Upon releasing the catch 28 the trap door is easily lifted, being assisted by the spring 23, the spring tending to expand and act in a measure as a counter-balance to the weight of the trap door.

The stairs B in the present instance lwill include the ordinary stairway, as previously described, and designated herein as c plus the auxiliary stairs d. The step el is substantreads 28 and 29, with an intermediate and connecting riser 30. Pivoted beneath the tread 28 and in substantial alignment with the riser 30 is an apron 31 pivoted to such auxiliary step at 32. The tread 29 is formed with hinge knuckles 33 whereby the saine may be pivoted between the sides 7 and 8 of the stairpin or shaft 36 passed through said knuckles maintaining the knuckles adjacent the riser 34 between the lowermost tread 9 and the next tread 35 there-above.

It will be seen that the angular portion l 36 between the tread 29 and the riser 30 lies y stairs are shown in Figures 3 and 4. lAs likewise constituting a portion ot the means B,

is means c for revolving the auxiliary stairs d into a collapsed or closed position, villustrated in Figure 4, tion, as in Figure 3, depending upon whether the trap door 13 is open or closed. It is intended that when the trap-door is closed, as for instance illustrated inrFigs. l1 and 4, that the auxiliary stairs should likewise be in its closed or collapsed 'condition and so remain until the trap dooi1 is raised. lThe means c may assume various forms, and in the present instance the shaft 36 Y passed through the knuckles 33 is secured to said knuckles so that it will revolve with the auxiliary stairs. Carried on the said shaft is a bevel gear 37. A pair of bearing Vbrackets 38 and 39 act to support and carry a shaft 40, there being beveled gears 41 and 42 at ends of said shaft, the bevelv gear 42 meshing with the teeth of the bevel gear 37. Hingedly secured to an end of the `rod 2O is an arm 43, and this arm 43 in turn is pivotally secured to an arm 44.` The arm 44 is keyed or otherwise secured to a shaft 45, which shaft is carried in bearing brackets 46 and 47, the bearing brackets being secured to an extension 48 on the side 7. Carried on the shaft is a bevel gear 49 in mesh with the bevel gear 41. It will be seen that the shaft 45k is at right anglesto the shaft 36 and that the shaft 40 acts as a jack or intermediate shaft between the two shafts 36 and 45. When thev trap door is raised from the dotted position of Figure 2 :rt-50 the arm 20 will move from the dotted position shown in Figure 2 to the full line position of said approximately through a 90 degree arc, and this revolution will revolve the auxiliary stairs from the dotted position of Figure 3 to the full line position of said figure. When the trapk door is lowered the opposite leffect takes place, namely, the arm 44y is revolved to the dotted position of Figure 2 and the auxiliary stairs are raised to the dotted position of Figure 3. As a consequence and as Figure 2 shows, it is unnecessary touse a stool, as the stairs perform the office of the stool in a more satisfactory manner, as the stairs are wider, corresponding to the width,

or into an open posifigure, and revolve the arm 44 y Ypersons are prevented from riding on said stairs when the trap door is down by the apron plus the tread 28, obstructing entrance thereto.

It is obvious modifications may that various changes and be made inpracticing the l invention, in departure from the particular showing of the drawing, without departing from the true spirit of the invention.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1. In a railroad coach having a platform, a stairway associated with the platform, and a trap door adapted to be swung upwardly or downwardly to uncover or cover said stairway and form an extension to said platform, the combination with said stairway, of an auxiliary stairway hingedly secured to said first stairway, and means between the trap door and said auxiliary stairway whereby movement of' the trap door will swing the auxiliary stairway upwardly or down-l wardly relative to the first stairway; said auxiliary stairway being provided with yan apron and said apron being adapted to swing against the tread of the lowermost stair when the auxiliary stairway is in an upward position.

2. In a device of the character disclosed, a stairway, an auxiliary stairway having a tread adapted to rest when in one position upon the tread of the first stairway, and to be swung from ysaid first position to a position substantially vertical with relation to the tread of the first stairway.

3. In a device of the character disclosed, a stairway, an auxiliary stairway having a tread adapted to rest when in one position upon the tread of the first stairway, and to be swung from said first position to a position substantially vertical with relation to the tread of the first stairway; a door normally closing entrance to said first stairway, and means of connection between the said door and the auxiliary stairway whereby when the door is open one tread of the auxiliary stairway rests upon the lowermost' tread of the first mentioned stairway.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE F. ZAUN. 

